MANY people will agree with Jack Straw’s comments that victims’ voices are not being heard by the criminal justice system.

The Justice Secretary said in a speech to the Royal Society of Arts that prison reformers were making sure that the needs of offenders were known.

But he said that they were forgetting about the ‘victims of crime’ and were ‘driving him nuts’.

His call for a renewed focus on ‘punishment’ and ‘reform’ will also be backed by the majority of people.

There is nothing more annoying for the public when they do not see justice being done.

The biggest sources of frustration are when seemingly lenient sentences are handed out for serious crimes or if there is inconsistent sentencing.

Everyone wants the punishment to fit the crime – and sometimes this does not happen.

Prison reformers who give a voice to offenders have a role to play in the system but no one would want this to be at the expense of the rights of the victim.

Mr Straw said that ‘we can all do more to support’ the victims of crime.

He is in the prime position to make sure that this is done.